HOUSTON — The cute narrative about the Miami Marlins is that they lost 105 games last year, began the year ranked as the third biggest longshot to make the playoffs (behind only Baltimore and Seattle) and made 174 roster moves largely to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak that struck 18 players. From “Bottom Feeders,” as Phillies analyst Ricky Bottalico called them, to the National League Division Series. That’s the Netflix version, anyway. (Slow Burn. Uplifting. Binge-worthy.)
You want the unsanitized baseball version of what they are doing here against the Atlanta Braves? Their bevy of young, hard-throwing pitchers aim to throw high-octane fastballs down the throats of any lineup.